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This newspaper article includes a number of cartoons and photographs about “railroad rate legislation.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-07
A number of men are in a “railroad rate bill” train car, including President Roosevelt, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman, West Virginia Senator Stephen B. Elkins, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, Iowa Senator Jonathan P. Dolliver, Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox, Texas Senator Joseph W. Bailey, Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, and Wisconsin Senator John C. Spooner. Some of them hold “amendment” cards. Caption: Engineer Roosevelt—”Who’s running this train, anyhow?”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-03-24
President Roosevelt, West Virginia Senator Stephen B. Elkins, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox, Iowa Representative William Peters Hepburn, and Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich all stir a “R.R. rates bill” soup in a pot shaped like the United States Capitol building.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-19
In one vignette, David B. Hill jumps into a “Wolfert’s Roost” tree with a sign that reads, “I really couldn’t wait until Jan. 1.” In the second, “the silent voter” sphinx shouts, “Roosevelt!” from a megaphone as Alton B. Parker runs away. In a third vignette, Chair of the Republican National Committee George B. Cortelyou tells Chair of the Democratic National Committee Thomas Taggart, “Kindly make allowances for me, Tom, as this was my first campaign.” In the fourth, President Roosevelt looks at a Republican elephant who holds a scroll that reads, “339 + electoral votes.” The elephant says, “Theodore, you’ve established a hard record for me to keep up with.” In the fifth, Henry Gassaway Davis opens a fence as West Virginia Senator Stephen B. Elkins rushes toward him and says, “Welcome home, pop!” In the sixth, Williams Jennings Bryan looks at a piecemeal donkey and says, “I guess there’s enough to work on.” In the seventh, “Southern democracy” looks at the shoes of “Northern democracy” stuck in a snowdrift and says, “Nothin’ but de feet!” In the eighth, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon looks through binoculars and says, “Wanted! A few minority members for House committees.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-13
President Roosevelt stands on one side of a scaffold, holding a large sculpted arm with a huge stick labeled “The Big Stick” for placement on a large sculpture of a female figure labeled “Inter-State Commerce Laws.” On the other side of the scaffold is a man labeled “The Rail Road” directing Nelson W. Aldrich, Stephen B. Elkins, and Joseph Benson Foraker to use instead a much smaller arm labeled “Delay” and “Fines.” Caption: A difference of opinion as to what will fit the lady.
J. S. Pughe’s cartoon is one of the cleverer uses of the Big Stick as an icon during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. The depiction of four men against his lone self is also a fair representation of the opposition Roosevelt faced.
On the Senate floor, several Senators engage in a free-for-all around a signpost labeled “Rail Road Interests.” Watching the melee from the “Visitors’ Gallery” is Joseph R. Burton.
J. S. Pughe’s center-spread cartoon in Puck, 1906, is a reversal of many cartoons drawn through the years (most memorably by Joseph Ferdinand Keppler’s 1889 gallery of moneybags, “Bosses of the Senate.” Pughe’s variation was to draw the floor of the Senate ripped out, and the well reconfigured as the floor of a stock exchange.
Theodore Roosevelt, as Hercules, wears a lion skin and holds a sword. He faces a nine-headed hydra, with each head identified as that of a senator. The hydra’s tail is labeled “U.S. Senate.”
In an earlier time, such as when this cartoon in Puck appeared, average people were conversant with elements of Western intellectual heritage like Greek mythology. The contextual background of this political cartoon by J. S Pughe might have been evident to many readers in 1905. In one of ancient Athens’ most durable myths, the Second Task of Hercules was to conquer the multi-headed monster Hydra.
President Roosevelt has received Senator Lodge’s letter, and has written a message to Representative William Peters Hepburn, of which William Loeb encloses a copy. Roosevelt would be glad if Lodge showed the message to Senator Shelby M. Cullom and Senator Stephen B. Elkins.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-29
President Roosevelt tells Attorney General Moody he has received information that leads him to believe that Circuit Court Judge Reese Blizzard is not the right man for the position. Blizzard has given the impression that he is a lobbyist for corporations. The Senators must be convinced to “furnish us with a good man in his place.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-30
President Roosevelt hopes George B. Cortelyou, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, will appoint West Virginian Charles F. Teter as an assistant. He attests to Teter’s qualifications but leaves the decision to Cortelyou.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-28
Senator Elkins and Senator Scott do not object to having the Pennsylvania dams controlled from the new Pittsburgh office.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-02-21
Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt explains to Mary L. Elkins that she and President Roosevelt have had to decline all invitations to dine unless it is with Cabinet officers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-12-31
President Roosevelt explains to Henry Cabot Lodge that he had decided to replace Assistant Secretary of State Thomas W. Cridler with Herbert H. D. Peirce before speaking with Cabot; he mentions the “ferocious” reaction of some to that decision. Roosevelt also discusses southern reaction to his having had Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House, ascribing it to the aggressive spirit of the American South. He states that such attitudes will not cause him to change his appointments.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-28
West Virginia Governor Dawson informs Secretary of War Taft that two men from his state, Generals George W. Curtin and Charles F. Teter, will attend the convention intending to follow their orders to renominate President Roosevelt for the presidency. Dawson discusses several people in the state who might have influence with Curtin and Teter who could convince them to do otherwise.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-26
Secretary of War Taft encloses a letter from Governor William Mercer Owens Dawson of West Virginia containing “some curious statements” regarding people in the state who support President Roosevelt’s renomination. Taft does not think it is worth taking action over.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-27
In a telephone message, Albert J. Beveridge reported on the positions of several Senators regarding the battleship bill, and provided a list of Senators President Roosevelt should speak to about it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-20
Seth Low is enclosing copies of a speech he made at Charles Evans Hughes’s dinner. Thanks to Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, he was able to make arrangements for Representative William Peters Hepburn to introduce their resolution to the House, as well as to the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Inter-State Commerce. Hearings for the Senate Committee are already scheduled and they hope to have the House Committee hearings the same day. Cannon also told Low that although he previously opposed allowing railroads to pool, now he feels that something like that must be tried. They have been encouraged to prepare bills to express their views, so Herbert Knox Smith and Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield will take up the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-04
William H. H. Llewellyn writes to William Loeb regarding an investigation of the management of the penitentiary in New Mexico by Holm Olaf Bursum. While Llewellyn does not want to defend Bursum from any actual wrongdoing, he has known Bursum for twenty-five years, and he does not believe that he has any personal dishonesty, especially with regards to his finances. Llewellyn believes Bursum can disprove the charges against him. He believes that Governor Herbert J. Hagerman is stirring up trouble.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-08
Representative Hepburn leaves a telephone message providing reassurance that the Hepburn Rate Bill will pass without incident. Hepburn states that some of the Senate conferees fear that the House will agree to some of the Senate’s amendments. Hepburn also states that James Schoolcraft Sherman and Senator Stephen Elkins of West Virginia are away.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-20
Senator Stephen B. Elkins of West Virginia believes that the Hepburn Act, “will be substantially as the Senate had it.” Elkins feels that the bill is making better progress than the newspapers indicate. He does not know yet how the Senate will act on the Canal question.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-16